(2) Computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to malfunction or damage and which are obsolete.

(3) Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and which require the original media or hardware as a condition of access.

(4) Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling of the ebook’s read-aloud function and that prevent the enabling of screen readers to render the text into a specialized format.

Unfortunately, I lack the cryptographic key that would allow me to understand this, but it sure sounds like these are too few and too random. [Thanks to Mark Dionne for the link.]

Michael Cudahy writes on the speculation that W will dump Cheney and take Rudi Giuliani for his VP. He argues that the Democrats need Republican votes and that the Dean campaign has not been receptive to that imperative.

I just gave a talk at the first Ascential user conference. I was talking mainly about how metadata is rooted in human desire. Afterwards, Bernard Plagman approached me and struck up a conversation. He apparently is the person who coined the term “metadata” in an article in 1971. Back when he wrote Data Dictionary/Directory Systems (Wiley, 1974), it was necessary to argue that metadata ought to be managed the same way data is.